horsepower problems

I just bought a new tiburon in september and on oct 9th i recieved a letter from hyundai that stated the horsepower of my car is actually 134 and not 140..I was wondering if many others got this letter and if the gt also had a horsepower reduction.They also gave options of extended warrenties for the false advertising of the horespower, has anyone talked to them to see if they would pay out the warrenty extension so we could posssibly install a new high performance exhaust or anything?If anyone has any information on this problem please e-mail me. Thank you

i haven't heard about the base model, the the GT was falsely advertised at 181 hp, its actually 170, they may not have the capability to produce high hp engines, if they do, someone enlighten me

The HP problem is an issue with all of the '03 Models. Go to the Hyundai website and there is a link to a page where you put in your VIN # and it tells you whats up.

:( I also received a letter from Hyundai in relation to the false advertisement of horsepower for my new Tiburon. I was very concern with my new 2003 Tiburon because I had problems with the clutch, until ultimately, the car broke down and at 4000 kms Hyundai felt they needed to replace the entire engine. So after I received the letter, I decided to call Hyundai Canada's Customer Service department. I was treated very poorly, with their offer to be limited to a one year extension of my warranty (limited to kms). I was told to take it or leave it. I asked to speak to a supervisior and was refused. I decided to write a letter to Hyundai Canada, four months later, I have yet to receive a reply. I would rethink my Hyundai purchase.

Hyundai has really dropped the customer service ball on this issue.

If your HP was not affected by at least 5%, they consider it a non issue. If your HP WAS affected, they only offer you a warranty extension.

Some dealers are going beyond what Hyundai Corporate has stated. Some are giving purchasers "credit" at the dealership, others are even offering to let purchasers exchange their Hyundai for any other car.

In reality, the car is as fast today, as the day you bought the car. The HP of the car didn't change, just the "claimed" HP changed. If you still enjoy driving it, that's all that really matters.

Personally, I'd love to see the whole concept of "claimed" engine HP go away. I'd like to see tested HP and torque figures to the wheels done by the government at the same time as vehicle weight, emissions and fuel economy. How many people would buy an automatic vs a manual transmission if they knew they got 20 extra HP to the wheels in addition to better fuel economy with the manual?

:( Dear Random,
I want to first say thank you for the reply. I found your comments interesting, especially with regards to “dealerships offering to let purchasers exchange their Hyundai for any other car”. With all the research I have done, I have not heard of this. Hyundai USA is obviously treating their customers much better than Hyundai to the north.
I also found your comment “in reality, the car is as fast today, as the day you bought it” also very interesting, for two reasons. Firstly, that is exactly what Hyundai Canada said when I called them, verbatim. Are you sure you don’t work for them? Secondly, I think you miss the point, because the car I bought is not the car I have. Those “claimed” horsepower were good enough for Hyundai to base their selling price on. And those “claimed” specification is what I used to determine whether to buy Hyundai or Mitsubishi. It’s not like I went into the car dealership, and said “ohhh shining zoom-zoom” and then handed Hyundai a cheque. I used those specifications, along with Hyundai reputation for customer service and their warranty, to make my final decision to purchase. What I have learned about Hyundai Canada? So far they misrepresented their horsepower specifications, their customer service department choices to ignore me, and after 4000 km I had to use that warranty, which ultimately, I had hope not to. If I had just received a letter, informing me that the horsepower was incorrect, I would not have called Hyundai. You must remember that I had my engine completely replaced after only 4000 km, that was before my first scheduled service. I have sent Hyundai two letters, something that I don’t do, thereby giving them every opportunity to address my concerns. If it is simply a matter of having me go to my dealership to “exchange their Hyundai for any other car”, then why have they been mute on the subject? We will never know.
Thanks again for your comments, it points out to me that I must do more research on this issue.
Ripping Mad at Tiburon

No, I don't work for Hyundai, but I am a Hyundai Enthusiest(sp).

Hyundai USA Corporate did NOT do anything other than send out the letter, and offer the selected engined/cars the extended warranty. Car exchanges, dealership credit, etc..etc..etc... was all done by individual dealers. The SOME dealers realized that the customer goodwill was worth more to them than the profit on one sale. In reality, it was a very, very, very FEW dealers who did this. The vast majority of USA dealers treated us customers just like your dealer is treating you.

Your comment about buying the car off specificications doesn't quite hold water. I'm sure you researched your purchase via the internet, automotive trade magazines, and the like. I'm sure you looked up 0-60 times, 1/4 mile times, etc..etcc.. you didn't buy the car just because Hyundai Motor Canada claimed 140 HP. I'm sure you test drove the car, acceleration, braking, cornering, etc..etc..etc.. In that respect, the car is just as fast today as the day before you got the letter. The cars the magazine test editors used were down on "claimed" hp just like yours and mine. The test numbers they came up with are still valid. The car hasn't gotten any slower.

Again, don't get me wrong here, I'm not defending what HMA/HMC has done. They screwed up. They never bothered to verify the engine performance in production engines. They relied on prototype engine data, and never revised/re-tested their engines when they changed designs. In that, they made a mistake.

Hyundai, Kia and Daewoo were fined by the Korean government for overstating engine HP in Korea in 1998/99. Why they took another 2-3 years to admit it to the USA market, and why they continued to use the overstated claims is something you would have to ask Hyundai Corporate. (I'll try to dig up the links to show you). There is a group trying to get a class action lawsuit going against Hyundai becaues of this. Personally, I chose not to get involved in it, because it only hurts me. If a class action lawsuit goes through the courts, the lawyers will get rich, and us consumers will be lucky to get free oil changes, if that out of the deal. Our resale value will be diminshed, and we will not have gained anything, but instead will have lost.(resale value).

I do respect your position/opinion. I did feel the same as you at one point. Just wondering, what is it that you expect HMC to do? Do you want money back? Do you want a new Hyundai, or do you want out of your Hyundai and into another brand of car?

Sounds like we are splitting hairs. I guess ultimately you and I do agree, maybe from different perspectives, that what Hyundai did was wrong. I want to reiterate that if I had simply received a letter from Hyundai with regards to an incorrect horsepower “claimed” or otherwise, than I would be more like you, uninvolved. That being said, I did not just receive a “horsepower oops letter”, I had an engine completely replaced after only 4000 km. This was long before I received my first schedule service. I contacted Hyundai and was treated very poorly, which forced me to write two letters to them, something that I NEVER DO. Overall, I needed Hyundai to meet three basic requirements, clear & concise representation, courteous customer service, and reasonable reliability. In my opinion they are batting 0 and 3. I wish Hyundai had taken the time that you have, to participate in a honourable debate, and attempt to address some of my concerns. You have provided more dialogue than they have at this point. Ultimately, you and I can debate until we are blue in the face. For my situation, it is Hyundai that needs to participate and to take a leadership role on this issue. You asked me what I wanted from Hyundai. Unfortunately Hyundai has not taken the numerous opportunities to ask me. And there lies the problem.


Ripping Mad at Tiburon

I agree, that if hyundai did not do the basics that I have above, then yeah, they gave you a horrible customer service experience, and probably lost a future customer...possibly for life.

Unfortunately, Hyundai has a bad customer service track record, both the corporate offices, and the individual dealers. They don't seem to be too interested in fixing it either.

There were some emails going around about class action lawsuits against Hyundai for inflated HP claims. Eventually, they came clean before the Class Action suit got going. (wonder why they did it?)

Here's the info I got about the law suits. Hopefully this information will help you in your persuit for satisifaction. I consider it spam mail, and a way for one group of Lawyers to get rich at our misfortune, but it may help, so I'll pass it along to you.

email from [email protected]
Dear Owners of Korean-Made Cars,

You have been cheated by your Korean car dealers who at time of purchase overstated engine horse power and other specifications of your cars.

You, therefore, have plenty of lemon law rights for which dealers, agents, distributors, lenders and manufacturers are fully responsible. Your vehicles are part of LEMON LAUNDERING SCHEME whereby each of you is entitled to US$ 1,000,000 in punitive damages.
For free legal consultation, you may contact: [email protected] .
You may also register your complaint with BigClassAction at: www.bigclassaction.com/automotive.html
Also, please do consult with The Consumer Law Center, a leading lemon law rights defense firm, at: www.consumerlawcenter.net . It is a free service. Contact details: [email protected] .

View Hyundai-Kia statement, the first Korean automakers to ever admit
to overstating engine horse power at: http://hyundaistatus.com/horsePowerOverview.asp

For free legal consultation, you may contact: [email protected] .

You may also register your complaint with BigClassAction at: www.bigclassaction.com/automotive.html

This statement, however, is full of lies to rip you off your rights.
For details, please visit the website: http://boycott.korean.cars.tripod.com

Feel free to contact us when you have any question.
Truly
Y.S.Koo
ConsumerProtect

The problems with the horsepower has to do with the exhaust systems used. When they originally quoted that the 4 has 140 and the 6 has 181 they were basing that on how many hp those engines produce in the cars they came from. The 4 in the tib is the same as the 4 in the elantra(i think) and in that car it produces 140. The 6 comes from the santa fe and produces 181 in the santa fe. I guess they did some tests on the tiburon and discovered that it produced less hp than they had thought. :(

The problems with the horsepower has to do with the exhaust systems used. When they originally quoted that the 4 has 140 and the 6 has 181 they were basing that on how many hp those engines produce in the cars they came from. The 4 in the tib is the same as the 4 in the elantra(i think) and in that car it produces 140. The 6 comes from the santa fe and produces 181 in the santa fe. I guess they did some tests on the tiburon and discovered that it produced less hp than they had thought. :(

Actually, the HP for the Santa Fe (V6) and Elantra (I4) were downgraded at the same time.

it is not the exhaust system, or even US Spec Emissions exhaust systems vs Korean Spec emissions/exhaust system.

The offical word from Hyundai is that they did not have a system in place to verify inital development engine HP figures matched production engine HP figures. Personally, I find this rather hard to believe, but it is the offical story.

The engines were downgraded for HP world wide, so it is not an exhaust/emissions/country issue.

that's interesting. i guess the estimates for those vehicles were already wrong when the based the estimates for the tib off of them. oh well; doesn't much matter why. i'm still mad :(

The Santa Fe and Sonata got the 2.7L first, then the 03 tibby got it. So the HP/Torque figures listed for both of those cars was wrong, and was corrected at the same time the figures for all other Hyundai vehicles.

There was one bright spot, I think it was the SOHC 1.5L Accent motor made MORE HP than claimed!:) All the other motors were down on HP/Torque.

What made me mad was that Hyundai, Kia and Daewoo were all fined in Korea for overstating HP figures, but they only corrected them in korea. They continued to use the "higher" HP/torque figures in the USA and the rest of the world. You would think once they got caught, they would fix it everywhere....but it took them more than a year for them to correct the figures in the rest of the world.

Gee, considering no tuners is going to keep the tib at the stock hp anyway. Just Dyno it get the real HP and start adding HP!:rolleyes: